Discovery of New Plutonium Chemistry and Its Potential Effect on LLW Disposal at SRS [electronic resource].

Published:: Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2001.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Physical Description:: vp : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators:: United States. Department of Energy. Savannah River Site, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information

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Summary:

Recently published work on the chemistry of plutonium (IV) dioxide has shown that PuO₂ is not the thermodynamically stable form as was previously thought. In humid environments or the presence of water, some of the plutonium is oxidized to Pu (VI) with the evolution of hydrogen and the formation of PuO2 plus x, where x can range up to 0.27 (i.e. about 27 percent of the Pu has been oxidized to the plus 6 oxidation state). The implication of this discovery is that a more mobile form of plutonium (i.e. Pu (VI)) than that assumed in the performance assessment (i.e. Pu (IV)) could be present in the humid waste disposal environment. If so, then the approved performance assessment might not conservatively bound the effects of plutonium waste disposal.

Report Numbers:

E 1.99:wsrc-rp-2000-00980
wsrc-rp-2000-00980

Subject(s):

Hydrogen

Other Subject(s):

Note:

Published through SciTech Connect.
09/11/2001.
"wsrc-rp-2000-00980"
Wilhite, E.L.

Type of Report and Period Covered Note:

Final; 09/11/2001 - 09/11/2001

Funding Information:

AC09-96SR18500

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